The Sixth Shepherd
by roseT-xo
Summary: Cassandra Barrett spent her summers in Seattle but she hadn't returned since Derek died, now she needs help and has returned once more to the place she thought she'd never come back to, to the people she swore she'd never talk to again. As she tries to adjust from New York to Seattle, she must learn to juggle her new way of life. (I do not own Greys Anatomy!)
1. Chapter 1

Cassandra Barrett had been roaming the streets of Seattle for what seemed like hours, no months, _**days. **_Okay, she was being slightly dramatic, but it had been for longer then she had expected. She was looking for a particular house, she had forgotten the name of the street, but she was fairly certain she was in the right area. She hadn't seen this house in over 12 years, and she was uncertain as to whether she would recognise it. It could be different now; a lot can happen in 11 years including the redecoration of a house. She was starting to get tired when she noticed a house.

She knocked on the door slowly, she was hoping that it was the right house or else she'd scream as loud as she could. She couldn't face another two hours of searching. After a few minutes an African-American woman with the curliest hair Cassie had ever seen opened the door.

"Hi," said Cassie with the fakest smile on her face "Is Amy Sheppard here?"

The woman stared at her in confusion and Cassie would almost bet her life on it that his woman had no idea who Amy was. "Amy Shep-?" she began, and Cassie could see her confused facial expression change into realisation "Oh do you mean Amelia?"

Cassie couldn't help but heave a tiny sigh "Yes, that's her. Whatever she goes by these days," she replied "So is she here? It's sort of, kind of urgent,"

The woman eyed her curiously and Cassie could tell she was suspicious of her sudden appearance "Who's asking?"

"A friend," she replied simply.

The woman was silent for a few moments "Aren't you a little young to be friends with Amelia?" she asked, "You can't be any older then 20,"

"Can you just get Amy – _Amelia_ for me please?" she asked, her patience was starting to wear thin, who was this woman and why was it such a problem to speak to Amelia?

She could hear footsteps approaching the door and a blonde woman appeared at the door, but Cassandra knew who this woman was – she knew all too well.

The woman looked at Cassie and a look of confusion was sketched upon her face "Oh…," she trailed off. "Carly, right?"

"It's Cassandra," she said sharply "Carly's my sister. Nice to see your as sharp as ever auntie Mer," the sarcasm was so clear in her voice that Meredith seemed taken aback.

"Auntie Mer?" questioned the first woman as she glanced between Cassie and Meredith "You're not … belonging to Lexie…. Molly?"

Cassandra's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The first name sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out how. "No, I'm Kathleen's daughter,"

The woman gasped "You have another sister?" she practically shrieked.

Meredith shook her head "No, or at least I hope not," she paused "This is Derek and Amelia's niece," Meredith gave a small smile "This is my sister Maggie, are you looking for Amelia?"

Cassandra nodded "Yep, can I come in?" she asked and without waiting for an answer she walked past Meredith and Maggie into the sitting room. She peered around as she examined the place. It hadn't changed abit from the summers she had spent here visiting her Uncle Derek – the only thing that had changed was the addition of toys and clutter.

"So where is my auntie Amy then?" asked Cassie as she glanced around the room "Off the wagon again? Back in rehab?"

Maggie and Meredith exchanged shocked glances and Maggie piped up sharply "Actually she's at the hospital, she's working,"

"We're heading there now if you want a ride," said Meredith as she grabbed her keys off the coffee table "We were just about to leave before you arrived,"

Cassandra pursed her lips together, she'd rather jump off a cliff then share a car journey with Meredith Grey and that was putting it lightly. The less time she spent with her on this trip the better. She turned to Maggie "I'll go with you," she announced.

"We carpool," said Maggie "It's with us both or you can find your own way there,"

Cassandra shrugged "Fine, but I'm sitting in the back," she said as she left the room. She could hear the two sisters muttering as she left but she didn't care. They were nothing to her, she needed to find her aunt Amy.

**XXXX**

Cassandra had been in many hospitals throughout her life. When your entire family practises medicine hospitals tend to feel more like home then your actual home, and that was the case for Cassie and her siblings growing up. She had remembered being in Grey-Sloan Memorial from when she was younger, but it had been Seattle Grace Mercy West at that time. She walked along the corridor slowly behind Meredith and Maggie, she didn't want to walk with them. She noticed how much the hospital had changed since she had been here, it seemed completely different. She could hear Meredith calling Amelia's name, so she assumed her aunt was within sight. She approached Amelia who was standing with Meredith and Maggie at the nurse's station.

"Cassie?" asked Amelia as she stared at her in shock "What are you doing here?" She wrapped her arms around her niece and gave her a right embrace. She looked at her niece closely "You're so grown up looking,"

"I'm 22 auntie Ames," she said with a small smirk "It tends to happen,"

"What are you doing here?" she asked again.

"Can't a girl come to see her second favourite aunt," she asked.

"Oh charming," replied Amelia "Do I even want to know the favourite?" she smiled at her "What are you doing here?" she asked again "Usually when someone visits, they call and let their aunt know when they're coming,"

"Mom kicked me out," she said simply "I was due to start my internship in Columbia and now I'm homeless,"

"So you decided to fly cross country because?"

"I felt like it,"

Amelia raised her eyebrow "I was a troublesome teen once upon a time, what's really going on?"

"I actually went to LA first to see auntie Addie," admitted Cassandra sheepishly "But she's too pregnant and I didn't want to stress her out,"

"Ah got it, Addison is your favourite aunt," said Amelia "Makes sense now," she looked at her closely "So you wanted to stress me out?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes "No," she said pointedly "I didn't want to stress you out but auntie Addie is having an extremely complicated pregnancy I didn't want to add to that,"

Amelia nodded "Yeah she's not having the best time lately, is she?" she said in a small voice.

Cassandra pursed her lips "Maybe you should call her," Cassie knew that communication had been little to none between her aunts who had once been as close as anything. She knew that Amelia's sudden move to Seattle had been hard on Addison whilst she was pregnant with her miracle baby, as she fondly referred to her little girl Saffron as. Now that Addison was pregnant, by complete utter chance once again, Amelia wasn't around she barely called. Cassandra knew that Amelia was told little snippets about Addison via Charlotte whom worked with Addison in LA but as for that there was no communication.

Amelia sighed "You hardly came all the way to Seattle to lecture me about that?" she asked, "Look I know you're close with Addison, your whole family is, but I've been busy myself,"

Cassandra nodded "I didn't come to lecture you at all, what you do is up to you Amy," she said "I just need a place to crash until Addie has given birth then I'll go to LA and help with the baby,"

Amelia stares at her niece "What about your internship? Your education? Your career?" she asked, "You're supposed to be starting your intern year,"

Cassandra could barely believe her aunt cared about this sort of stuff. Her whole life Amelia had been the cool, crazy aunt that she wouldn't see for a while but when she did she had nothing but presents and stories. She adored her growing up and she always wished she could have seen more of her.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm serious," said Amelia "What about your internship?"

"I'll take a gap year, do one in LA," she shrugged "I'm not going back to New York auntie Ame, I mean it, I'm never going back to that house?"

Amelia looked at her niece symmetrically, she knew exactly what she mean. Her sister could be a handful at times, and she wasn't exactly the most caring person in the world, which was ironic due to the fact her entire profession was based around the ability to be caring.

Amelia wrapped her arms around her niece "You can stay with me for as long as you need to Cass," she said sincerely "But you need a plan, you need a job," she said. She glanced at the clock "Look, I must go consult with a patient, go into the attending a lounge and I'll be with you okay?" Cassie nodded at her aunt. "The lounge is on the third floor next to the nurses station, room 321, help yourself to whatever you want," Amelia gave her niece one last smile and walked away.

XXXXXXX

Cassie was sat on the leather couch in the attendings lounge, she had been to the canteen but felt awkward downstairs so she brought her food to the lounge. So far, nobody had entered, and she was hoping it would stay that way. She didn't want to make any unnecessary small talk with anybody that she didn't know.

Meredith entered and smiled at her "Hi Cassie," she said as she made her way over to the fridge "Is Amelia still with Mrs. Thompson?" she asked.

Cassie didn't respond, she kept flicking through the magazine and began to hum a song. Meredith tried again "Mrs Thompson is a really interesting case, you should ask Amelia if you can shadow the case, she has a cyst -,"

"Um are you not breaking the number one golden rule of doctor patient confidentiality?" asked Cassie cutting her off. Meredith stared at her blankly "Uh, yeah I guess," she mumbled and decided to stay quiet.

Amelia entered the lounge talking loudly on the phone "Yes I know that," she sighed loudly "Okay - yes yes okay Addie," I wouldn't dream of letting her go to Joe's," she looked at Cassie and rolled her eyes which caused her to giggle. "Okay, she'll be fine with me. Love you too, mind yourself, don't forget to send on those pictures of Henry and Saffy," Amelia sighed as she put down her phone "Poor Addison," she said quietly.

Cassandra nodded "It's been tough for her, those two months in hospital really broke her,"

Amelia bit her lip "Why didn't I call her? She could have died," She wipes away a tear as her phone beeped and a small smile spread across her face "She sent the pictures,"

Cassie sat beside her aunt and looked at the picture of Henry and Saffy at the beach laughing "Oh that's my favourite one," she cooed "Carly and I sent her that pink hat,"

"I can't believe she's five already," murmured Amelia "And Henry is 7,"

"They're cute," said Meredith as she glanced into the phone "Both of them are Addison's?"

"Yep," replied Amelia "Addison & Jake's,"

What did Addison say?" asked Meredith as she drank a cup of tea "About Cassie?"

Cassandra gave Meredith a dark glare "It's Cassandra," she said and turned to Amelia "Well?"

"Addie said you're more than welcome to come to LA before or after the baby is born," said Amelia "You won't stress her out," she said, "But I could have told you that Cass, Addison adores you,"

"Maybe you should go to LA. She'll probably be glad to have the extra help," said Meredith "When the baby arrives,"

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you," muttered Cassandra under her breath low enough for only Amelia to hear. Amelia threw her a quizzical look but didn't say anything.

There was silence for a few minutes until Amelia spoke "I think you should stay here,"

"You do?"

"Yeah I like having you around," she smiled "I've missed out on so much,"

Cassie nodded "You have, did you know Andrew has a boyfriend?"

Amelia gasped "What?" she practically shrieks "I thought he was engaged to Lola? Lizzie Facebooked me a year ago to tell me,"

Cassie shook her head "Turns out he was using her as a cover, she found his phone and freaked out," she said, "He introduced us to Gabriel at Nanny Sheppard's last Thanksgiving," she said.

Amelia shook her head "Wow baby Andy has a boyfriend and little Cassie is about to start an internship,"

Cassie raised her eyebrow "You mean, not starting an internship," she said quietly. "I couldn't stay in New York, I couldn't afford to live out on my own,"

Amelia gave her a small smile "Maybe we could get you an internship here?" she suggested "If you want to stay, that is,"

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "It's not that simple Amy, you can't just request an internship, it takes ages to fill out an application and interviews, and even then, you're not guaranteed to get the one you want,"

Amelia looked over to Meredith "What do you think Mer?" she asked, "Would Bailey hire her?"

Meredith shrugged "I don't know," she said truthfully "You'd really have to plead your case,"

Amelia smiled at her niece "We'll figure something out Cass, but you're welcome to stay with me and Owen for as long as you need to,"

"Would Owen mind?" asked Meredith "You couldn't have asked him already, he's been in surgery for hours,"

Amelia shrugged "It'll be okay, he'll understand, Cassie is family," she said as she squeezed Cassie's hand.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review


	2. New Beginnings

**A/N: **This story takes place before Betty leaves and before Amelia had dinner with her family.

No I did not write this story before – this is a new story about Amelia's niece who comes to visit her in Seattle. **Disclaimer: **I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters apart from Cassie who is my own creation. Cassie is the daughter of Kathleen Shephard.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Cassie awoke the following morning in a daze. It took her a few moments to realize that she was back in Seattle, and not in her room in New York. The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotions and Cassie still had not gotten to grips with what happened. After her mother had a massive meltdown, she had decided to LA only to be met with her sick, pregnant aunt in hospital to flying to Seattle to be reunited with Amelia that she hadn't seen in over 7 years.

She lay in her bed for a few minutes and wondered why she came to Seattle? Was it because Amelia the least judgmental family member? She had seen a lot of Amelia in her younger years, usually at her grandmother's house on a Sunday evening however as the years moved on she began to see less of her. As she grew older she became more aware of the comments that were made, usually by her mother, often referring to her youngest aunt as the Black Sheep of the family, she had heard the story of Uncle Ron's unfortunate encounter with Amelia's frivolous rendezvous with the usher at her parent's wedding many times. She related to her aunt a lot – more than anyone else in her family and it always hurt her that Amelia had suddenly vanished from their lives and their family.

She slowly rose from her bed, put on her slippers and made her way to the kitchen where Amelia and a young girl whom Cassie guessed was Betty we're making breakfast.

"Morning sunshine," grinned Amelia once she spotted her niece staring at them "Sit down, we're making eggs,"

Betty offered a smile to Cassie but didn't speak to her instead she focused on the breakfast in front of her.

"This is Betty," said Amelia "Y'know the teenager we took in," she smiled "And this is my niece Cassie, she's starting her internship in Grey-Sloan,"

"Might be," interjected Cassie "It's not for certain Ames,"

"Oh Bailey will give you an internship, she loves me," grinned Amelia "And she adored Derek,"

A wave of silence fell amongst them. Cassie had to admit it was strange to be in Seattle without her Uncle, he was the reason she ever visited but once she turned 13 she refused to come anymore. Her uncle had changed, he wasn't the same, lovable, goofy uncles he had once known. He had become stricter, more sullen and a lot more uptight. As a 12 year old she couldn't understand the drastic change in him but as she grew up she realized that life has a funny of messing you around, including her uncle Derek.

"Here," offered Amelia as she handed a plate to Cassie "Tuck in,"

The three of them sat around the table in silence. Cassie noticed that Betty was picky with her food, moving it around the plate with her fork and although Cassie had nearly finished hers Betty had barely eaten one bite.

"So I'm going to go into work today," announced Amelia "Talk to Bailey, get Meredith and Maggie on side and we should be good to go,"

Cassie raised her eyebrow at Amelia, it couldn't be that simple. She wondered if Amelia was on drugs, she was acting erratic and that was always an indicator of when she was about to go off the rails, she had grown up with her aunt constantly falling off the wagon.

"Okay," she replied quietly and sipped her tea. She glanced at Betty who was still picking at her food. The situation between them was also odd, why did she randomly take in a drug addict teen and her baby?

"I'm going to go for a shower Ames," said Cassie as she put her dishes in the sink.

**XXXXX**

Cassie lingered around the house all day and she had to admit it was pretty boring. Seattle was so different to New York. She could walk outside her door in New York and would be greeted with a million things to do, here she had nothing only a row of houses nearby. She thought about calling Amelia and asking if there was any update on her internship but she decided against it, what was meant to be would be.

The day had finally passed and Amelia came home from work.

"How was your day?" she asked as she began to flip through the letters that were delivered earlier that morning.

"Boring," sighed Cassie "What did Dr Bailey say?"

"Oh right," Amelia said snapping her fingers "I knew there was something I had to tell you, I had the busiest day at work you wouldn't believe the cases I got today," she put her hands on her hip "This one woman came in with -,"

"Auntie Amy, what did Bailey say?" asked Cassie. She really had no interest in what Amelia was about to say.

"Oh right, she said she'd give you an interview," she hesitated "Tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow," yelped Cassie "That's so soon?" She started to become frantic "I need to prepare, I need to buy an outfit I must -,"

Ameila waved her hands "Chill out Cass, it'll be fine, we'll go through it all night if we have to,"

**XXXX**

The next day arrived quicker then Cassie would have liked. She was extremely nervous. She had spent most of the night preparing with Amelia and she wasn't sure how confident she was. She knew her stuff. She was raised in a family of doctors she could give you a diagnosis at the age of 14.

She entered the hospital alongside Amelia and took a deep breath.

"You'll be fine Cass," smiled Amelia "When you're done we're having a family dinner tonight at Meredith's, last minute text from Maggie this morning,"

Cassie hesitated. She knew she would not be going to any family dinner at Meredith Greys house.

"Me, Owen and the kids, Maggie and Jackson, Meredith and her kids, Jo and Alex who you haven't met yet, and you," she said with a smile. Cassie wasn't sure if Amelia had a brain or not, she was still trying to figure that out. How did she think this was something Cassie wanted to do.

"No thanks," she replied "I'm good," she said.

"You're good?"

"Yup,"

"So...," Amelia raised her eyebrow "You don't want to come?"

"Nope,"

"Okay...," she trailed off "Why not?"

"I don't want to,"

"You don't want to?"

"That's right,"

Amelia stared at her niece in confusion. She wished she knew what was going through her mind but Cassie was the most closed book she had ever come across.

"Cassie...,"

"I am not coming auntie Amy," said Cassie as she began to walk away "I must go to my interview now," and she left without another word.

**XXXX**

Cassandra sat outside of Bailey's office with closed eyes. She hadn't been this nervous since the day that she received her results from Med-School which had been so bad that she got sick in a flower pot.

The door opened and she looked up to see a stern face staring back at her. "Cassandra Barrett?" asked the middle aged woman whom Cassie guessed was Dr. Bailey.

"Uh," Cassie stood up and smiled "Yes, yes that's me, I am Cassandra," she could feel her legs twitching underneath her.

"I'm Miranda Bailey," she said reaching out her hand "Pleasure to meet you,"

Cassie shook her hand and smiled "The pleasure is all mine Dr. Bailey,"

"Come on in," she said as she led her into her office. Cassie noticed an older man sitting down at the desk and say down across the way.

"This is Richard Webber," said Bailey "He'll be assisting me in this interview,"

Cassie nodded "Nice to meet you Dr. Webber," and they shook hands.

"So are you also a prodigy of the Sheppard line?" asked Bailey as she shifted through her notes "You people breed like leaves,"

"I suppose I am," smiled Cassie "It would be inhumane not to be, in my family,"

"Now don't think you're going to get a place in this hospital because of your family, you have to earn it," she said sternly.

She noticed that Richard had been staring at her intently since she arrived into the room but she decided to take it in her stride. She didn't want to freak herself out too much.

"What can you bring to this hospital?" asked Bailey. "What are your best qualities?"

Cassie cleared her throat "I am very hardworking, reliable, I'm caring , I ..,"

Bailey interrupted her "No that's not what I meant, I want to know what you can bring to this hospital, something that nobody else can,"

Cassie could feel her hand shaking and she couldn't control it. She felt as if her insides were being squeezed and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "Um," she wasn't prepared enough for this, she was freaking out.

"Well?"

"I can ..," she trailed off "I can bring care to your patients, I can offer them the support they need and I will always do my best to make them better," she said "I am obsessed with medicine, ever since I was a little girl I was following my parents around the hospital, always so curious about the different medication,"

Bailey nodded as she took down some notes. "What made you want to become a surgeon? What was your moment?"

"My moment?"

"Yeah we all have one, the moment you knew that this was the career for you?"

Cassie hesitated unsure if she should tell the truth, her moment involved her Uncle Derek and she didn't want them to think that she was bringing him up to win favor.

"I- it actually involves my Uncle Derek," she said a little more quietly.

Bailey's eyes widened with curiosity and Richard sat up straighter. "It does?" She said softly. Cassie didn't know a woman so brash could go so quiet.

Cassie nodded "Yeah,"

"We'll go on then, we don't have all day," and her voice had hardened again.

"Well, I was 9 and it was before he moved to Seattle," she began "He had a really difficult case and he and my Uncle Mark had been working on t for ages on their practice,"

Bailey nodded.

"So he finally cracked the case, I knew how hard he had been working on it - both of them had been, and when I saw how relieved he was it made me think about the work that he did," she paused "He told me before that the best power to have in this lifetime is to make someone better and the fact that he had even saved one life meant that he could die happy,"

She watched as they both stared at her, the room was silent for a few moments and it seemed as if the clock had stopped. "Okay, we'll your Uncle Derek was a wise man," said Bailey with a small smile "A wise man indeed,"

**XXXX**

After the interview Cassie decided to go straight back to Amelia's house, she still hadn't met her husband - or whatever he was to her. She wasn't exactly sure what their status was, as far as she knew they were still married but she had not seen him or been introduced to him since she arrived. She walked down the ward and bumped into a doctor.

"Oh sorry," she said as his files went all over the floor "Let me help you," she bend down and glanced at the man. The first thing she noticed was his eyes as he picked up the files, they glistened. They both stood up and she examined him carefully. He was tall but not too tall, he had a beard and he seemed to be in a rush.

"Sorry about that," he said "I'm in a rush," Their eyes met for a split second and Cassie felt a flutter that she had never felt before.

"No worries," she replied with a small smile "Don't let me keep you,"

They locked eyes for another moment and he ran away. She made a mental note to ask her auntie Amy about him later. She was intrigued about this mysterious man and as she watched him run away, she decided she wanted to know more about him.


End file.
